LOS ANGELES - There were jumpers from a step inside or outside the 3-point arc. But while the Los Angeles Lakers and Rockets fired away from the perimeter, showing only passing interest in anything in the paint, there was a marked difference.

The Lakers took two kinds of shots the Rockets could not. They took open shots. And they took Kobe Bryant shots.

The Rockets gave chase throughout the game. But down the stretch, when Bryant began posting up for turnaround jumpers and cutting to open spots on the floor, the Rockets had no answer, and the Lakers pulled away for a 108-99 victory Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Bryant scored nine of his 37 points in the final 5½ minutes to help build a 10-point lead and answer a last Rockets charge.

Kyle Lowry, who had 22 points, nine assists and 10 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer and then set up Samuel Dalembert for a three-point play that cut the Lakers' lead to four points with 3:54 left. But Bryant hit consecutive turnaround jumpers, the second through a Kevin Martin foul for a three-point play. Bryant then cut to the top of the arc to nail an 18-footer for a 100-89 Lakers lead with two minutes left.

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Rockets Update

Tuesday: Lakers 108, Rockets 99.

Record: 2-3.

Today: At L.A. Clippers, 9:30 p.m.

TV/radio: FSH; 610 AM, 850 AM (Spanish).

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While Bryant scored from start to finish, Andrew Bynum took care of the boards, getting 22 rebounds to go with 21 points in the first 20/20 game of his career. The Lakers outrebounded the Rockets 53-38.

Though the Lakers scored only 36 points in the paint, they pounded the ball inside enough to take 27 free throws, hitting 21. The Rockets went just 6-of-7 from the line.

About the only time the Rockets slowed the Lakers was with a mini-zone in the first half.

With the Rockets misfiring badly from the perimeter and the Lakers leading by eight points midway through the second quarter, Rockets coach Kevin McHale went with something different.

Luis Scola, who had 20 points, knocked down a jumper to cut the deficit to 39-33 before McHale moved Scola to center and put 6-6 Terrence Williams, who did not play Saturday against Atlanta, in at power forward. Martin and Courtney Lee hit 3-pointers before Bynum returned to the floor, giving the Lakers their bookend 7-footers Pau Gasol and Bynum together again.

McHale, however, stayed with his small lineup, moving it into a zone and taking the Lakers off their game. Until then, the Lakers had made 62.5 percent of their shots, and when the Rockets did defend them tightly, they regularly sent them where the Lakers made 10 of 14 attempts.

When the Rockets went to the zone, the Lakers made just two of nine attempts with three turnovers. The Rockets remained glued to the 3-point arc until Lee slammed home a missed 3. Williams followed that with a strong drive, Scola hit a jumper and a fast-break layup, and the Rockets had their largest lead at 46-43.

The Rockets missed their last five shots of the half, while Bynum got loose inside and Bryant put in a trey for a four-point Lakers lead. But the Rockets had at least a stretch of effective defense.

The Lakers were soon back to hitting jumpers and relying heavily on perimeter shooting. But with Chase Budinger making up for Martin's misfiring night from distance, the Rockets kept pace.

The Rockets were relying almost entirely on jumpers, getting just three buckets in the paint in the third quarter. But they were within one point heading into the fourth.

Firing from distance, however, did not seem likely to work without the Rockets finding some way to slow the Lakers on a more permanent basis than with an undersized zone. They never did.

Jonathan Feigen has been the Rockets beat writer since 1998 and a basketball nut since before Willis Reed limped out for Game 7. He became a sports writer because the reporter that was supposed to cover the University of Delaware basketball team decided to instead play one more season of college lacrosse and has never looked back.

Feigen, who has won APSE, APME and United States Basketball Writers Association awards from El Campo to Houston, came to Texas in 1981 to cover the Rice Birds, was Sports Editor in Garland before moving to Dallas to cover everything from the final hurrah of the Southwest Conference to SMU after the death penalty.

After joining the Houston Chronicle in 1990, Feigen has covered the demise of the SWC, the rise of the Big 12 and the Rockets at their championship best.